Lil history lesson inspired by my trip to the mall today. I normally see one or two "Black Fives" hats at @lids, but today I was excited to see so many from the series at a local store . I own one of the hats from the series (below).

About the Black Fives

Just after the game of basketball was invented in 1891, teams were called “fives” in reference to their five starting players.

Basketball, like American society, was racially segregated. Teams made up entirely of African American players were often known as “colored quints,” “Negro cagers,” or “black fives.”

The sport remained divided from 1904 — when basketball was first introduced to African Americans on a wide scale organized basis — until the racial integration of the National Basketball League in the 1940s and the National Basketball Association in 1950.

The period in between became known as the Black Fives Era, when dozens of all-black teams emerged, flourished, and excelled.

African Americans were making moves in basketball generations before the N.B.A. was born.

About the Partnership

’47 , a privately held premium sports lifestyle apparel brand, has partnered with the Black Fives Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to research, preserve, showcase, and teach the pre-1950 history of African Americans in basketball, to create a first-of-its-kind collection of headwear, apparel and accessories that combines fashion with history to honor the pioneering teams of the Black Fives Era."